Yep, I've got an over-the-board, bona-fide USCF tournament on the morrow!
Any advice besides "win, win, win"? :)
Get a good nights rest
Wake up early enough to do some tactics (your brain need exercise too)
Eat a light breakfast
Avoid energy drinks
Snacks such as nuts, granola bars, and fruit will help
Play the board, not the rating
Most importantly Have Fun!
I'm going to repost another post I made last night for someone else doing their first tournament. Here is what I wrote, slightly edited.
Hey I hope you enjoy it! :)
Some general advice;
Energy, hydration: Always bring water with you to the game, and drink plenty of water before the game. I also recommend eating a high protein meal a few hours before the games. avoid sugary foods as they give you a spike then crash energy effect. Protein won't.
Know what you want: Try to go into each game, or more generally, the tournament, with several openings in mind. For example, as white, decide how you want to open up the games (like 1.d4, e4, Nf3, Nc3, c4,g3 ect) and stick with it. Decide how you'll respond to 1.d4 or 1.e4 yourself as black (or if white plays something besides that). It'll save you clock time and you can be more secure in your opening play. Prepare your opening strategy now and practice them some before heading into the tournament this weekend.
Double check: Always double check your moves before you make them. Are any of your pieces hanging? Did you miss a check that your opponent can make that could mess up the idea behind your move? Is this capture safe for me, or is there a defender I missed?
Opening: Some players like to play tricky openings. Don't get caught taking to much time in the opening trying to punish it or give their threats more credit than they deserve, just play solid looking developing moves and avoid exposing your king or moving one or two pieces a lot and neglecting your others in the opening. Rule of thumb, try to only move a piece once in the first six to seven moves unless you have a good reason to move the piece again (a pawn attacks your knight, you can get a safe material advantage, ect). Castle as early as possible, this will avoid many quick losses by forks, discovered checks, or even mates.
Middle: Around move eight to ten you should have your pieces developed well, king to safety, and it is time to develop a plan. Developing a plan helps a lot as it can a) save time on the clock later because you already have goals to focus on, and b) your moves will be aimed at achieving a goal, or goals, and you'll have less "aimless" moves. As the saying goes, a bad plan is better than no plan. So take a few minutes and make one, even if it is as general as I'm going to attack white's king. Once you have a plan, figure out how to get that plan into action. It doesn't have to be complicated, it can be as simple as I will get my knight to g6 and my bishop to g4, or I will target the h2 pawn with my bishop and queen. Make a plan, work towards getting that plan into action. Make adjustments when necessary.
End game: It is very easy to have a material advantage, maybe a pawn or two, and trade down material into an end game and then lose that advantage. End games can be the more complicated part of a chess game so give yourself decent amount of time on the clock for if that stage of the game happens. Two important things to remember are 1) If you have a pawn and king verse a king and their king is in front of the pawn, and that pawn is on the A or H files, the game should be a draw as long as the king stays in front of your pawn. If you have a chance to avoid such a position earlier, do so and 2) always be careful of stalemates. I saw a tournament game last year where a player had a 2 pawn advantage against his opponent and his opponent made what at first glance was a terrible move, allowing his opponent to queen a pawn. The player immediately queened, thinking his opponent blundered and he would quickly win with his new queen. His opponent hadn't. He did. Him queening his pawn resulted in a stalemate as his opponent couldn't move his king and wasn't in check. Don't fall for stalemate trickery!
For more on the tournament, please see "Winning Isn't Everything..."
Yep, I've got an over-the-board, bona-fide USCF tournament on the morrow!
Any advice besides "win, win, win"? :)